Vampire Academy
Richelle Mead, 2007
Fantasy Young adultHorrorRomance
A teenage bodyguard and her vampire best friend hide in plain sight until their past catches up, forcing Rose to fight for the girl she'd die for. Rose's voice is witty and fast, with friendship and romantic longing pushing the story through dramatic, sometimes dark turns.
Feels like passion, curiosity and unease. About love, friendship and identity.
Who it’s for
You may like it if you enjoy YA fantasy with a fierce bodyguard, close friendship, and a romance that complicates the danger. The 2007 YA vampire-school setting also brings high-school drama and an unsuitable love interest, so expect that alongside the action.
Why read it
Mead's folklore-minded vampires and Rose's blunt, protective voice make this a good pick when you want friendship, romance, and danger in one brisk YA story.
A page from the book
A seventeen-year-old's job description, if the job were killing vampires.
By the way, my name’s Rose Hathaway. I’m seventeen years old, training to protect and kill vampires, in love with a completely unsuitable guy, and have a best friend whose weird magic could drive her crazy. Hey, no one said high school was easy. Richelle Mead.Mead has a master's in comparative religion; the Moroi and Strigoi names draw on Slavic folklore, giving her vampires a rule-bound, almost bureaucratic afterlife.
Books that feel like this
More by Richelle Mead
Frostbite
Richelle Mead, 2008
A half-vampire bodyguard-in-training, a best friend with forbidden magic, and a mentor she can't want: Rose Hathaway's second year at vampire school is a crash course in danger.
Blood Promise
Richelle Mead, 2009
Rose crosses a frozen Russia to find the vampire she loves—and do what a guardian must. Grief, banter and stakes, literal and otherwise.
Spirit Bound
Richelle Mead, 2010
Rose has graduated as a guardian, but the man she loves is undead, and the only plan to save him looks a lot like treason.
Where to get it
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Questions readers ask
- Is Vampire Academy for me?
- You may like it if you enjoy YA fantasy with a fierce bodyguard, close friendship, and a romance that complicates the danger. The 2007 YA vampire-school setting also brings high-school drama and an unsuitable love interest, so expect that alongside the action.
- What is Vampire Academy like?
- Rose's voice is witty and fast, with friendship and romantic longing pushing the story through dramatic, sometimes dark turns. Feels like passion, curiosity and unease. About love, friendship and identity.
- What should I read after Vampire Academy?
- If you liked Vampire Academy, try City of Bones (Cassandra Clare), Bride (Ali Hazelwood) and A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire (Jennifer L. Armentrout).
A taste of the feed
Being ninety percent certain is fine, until someone else does the arithmetic.
“You guessed? You must have been pretty sure, considering you could have killed me.” “I was ninety percent sure.” “I see,” Clary said. There must have been something in her voice, because he turned to look at her. Her hand cracked across his face, a slap that rocked him back on his heels. He put his hand to his cheek, more in surprise than pain. “What the hell was that for?” “The other ten percent.”
City of Bones · Cassandra Clare
A house built around the one thing that could kill you.
The first things I notice are the two walls of windows, which is exactly what Father wants. Every Human I’ve talked with assumes that Vampyres hate light and relish darkness, but they couldn’t be more wrong. The sun may be forbidden to us, toxic always and deathly in large quantities, but that’s precisely why we covet it with such intensity. Windows are a luxury, because they need to be treated with absurdly expensive materials that filter everything that might harm us. And windows this large are the most bombastic of status symbols, in a full display of dynastic power and obscene wealth.
Bride · Ali Hazelwood
Desire that arrives as need, not want.
I need to feel your lips on mine.“ He planted his hands on the carriage wall, caging me in. ”I need to feel your breath in my lungs. I need to feel your life inside me. I just need you. It’s an ache. This need. Can I have you? All of you?
A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire · Jennifer L. Armentrout
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